The Atlantis Olympics
by Wedjatqi
Summary: John makes a big mistake choosing his team members and Teyla takes full advantage of the opportunity to make him pay. JT
1. Choosing the teams

**Rating**: possibly M if I write more.

**Spoilers**: Set in Season 5, but no real spoilers.

**Note:** This is a strange little fic idea that has been bothering me for awhile, so I might at least write the first short chapter and see if I take it further later. I know it should probably have been called The Atlantean Olympics, but I prefer this title.

**Disclaimers**: I own no part of the Stargate world, I make no money from this endeavour. I only love this world so much I wish to play in it.

------

The last people filed into the packed Mess Hall, the energy high. Rumours had been circling and everyone was excited. John looked around at the sea of cheerful faces and was glad to see people looking happy for once. They had gone through so much over the last few years it was about time that they did something that everyone could enjoy and be involved in.

"Right, can I have everybody's attention please?" Lorne said loudly over the crowd and the whispers died down, all eyes on him. "As I am sure you have all no doubt heard Mr Woolsey has agreed to our request to hold the first ever Atlantean Olympics."

A cheer broke through the crowd, everyone talking again. Lorne waved his hands for quiet and silence fell once again. "Right, a team of adjudicators has been chosen who will oversee all the rules and regulations for each competition." Lorne angled his head towards the group standing behind him, at the front of which stood Rodney. "They will be setting the timetable, but competitions should be every two weeks. That gives everyone enough time to practice and in some cases actually learn the sport or activity. We expect everyone to keep to the rules of fair play and there will be no bribing of the judges. If anyone attempts to do so they and their whole team will no longer be allowed to participate." More whispers and laughter filled the room.

Beside John Ronon muttered exactly what he thought of the term 'fair play'. They had both known about these events for the past week as John had helped to convince Woolsey. He and Ronon had begun to suggest activities, namely sports, to Rodney. Rodney, rather drunk on his new found authority, had ordered them to stop discussing the subject with him or they would be disqualified.

Rodney now stood forward at Lorne's invitation. "Right, people listen up." John rolled his eyes; Rodney was loving this way too much. "Right, you are to submit your list of team members via e-mail no later than tomorrow 0900 hours. There must be six people in each team. There is a maximum of three members of the same military team allowed per Olympic team. Make sure you choose a variety of team members as competitions will not be limited to physical sports. We will announce the timetable of competitions each month. Scoring will be by a points system, points will be deducted for any bad behaviour and at the end the Olympics team with the most points wins." An enthusiastic cheer broke Rodney's flow. "Quiet please. Thank you. Now in the interest of fairness there are certain rules as to team members. First only one recognised genius per team." This brought up some whispering. "If that does present a problem it will be discussed later. Next there is to be only one super-human powered alien per team." Rodney pointedly looked over at Ronon and Teyla.

"My team gets Ronon." John shouted out quickly, and there were a variety of boos and curses around the room. John smiled round at Ronon beside him, only to have his eyes fall onto Teyla who stood on Ronon's other side. She looked at him with her eyebrows high, a surprised and perhaps slightly hurt look on her face. "Teyla, I didn't mean.." He started. Around him people sniggered and whispered.

Ronon leant back his lips pursed with an amused smile on his lips.

"No, that is fine, Colonel." Teyla said mockingly looking away.

"We get Teyla!" Came many shouts across the room, but Lorne had obviously been the first and loudest. That met with more boos and laughter.

John turned back to Teyla trying to apologise once again, but she turned and walked over to stand next to Major Lorne. "I am glad to see _someone_ wants me on their team."

John heard various comments around him all expressing the fact that he was in trouble now. "Teyla, it's only because Ronon and I have been talking about it so much lately."

"Well, you won't be talking about it any further around Teyla now will you." Lorne said back, obviously enjoying himself.

Teyla smiled along with the Major. "No, I wouldn't want to fraternise with the enemy."

John suppressed the urge to inquiry what kind of fraternisation she had in mind, and tired once again to apologise, worried that he had insulted his friend, but Rodney cut in.

"As amusing as it is to see the Colonel in trouble, can we please all focus back onto the rules."

------

TBC?


	2. Archery

**Note:** So I am continuing this strange little fic. It appears to have a life of its own!!

**Disclaimers**: I own no part of the Stargate world, I make no money from this endeavour. I only love this world so much I wish to play in it.

John squinted along the arrow, the centre of the target shining ahead of him in the bright sunlight. It had been years since he had used a bow and arrow and then he had been using the advanced materials of a recurve bow from Earth. These bare bows were rather like the old English long bow and were considerably more difficult to handle and get settled into using. The wood was warm under the grip of his left hand, and the string bit sharply into his right fingers as he took aim. He took a steady breath and let the arrow loose. The arrow thundered into the second ring of the target. He still needed more practice.

He lowered the bow and regarded the line of arrows across his target, all gradually moving closer to the centre as he became accustomed to using the bow. The tournament was tomorrow, if no crisis began before then. So, he had taken his time off this afternoon to practice along with several others out on the open stretch of one of the piers of Atlantis. From the look of it he was doing as good, if not better than the others practicing today as he looked down at the other practice targets.

He drew another arrow from the stand beside him and set it onto the string, pulled back in as steady a movement as he could, took aim and sent the arrow flying towards the target. The arrow struck the outer edge of the central ring and he smiled with satisfaction; almost there.

Then as he was studying his target an arrow with purple fletching embedded itself into the bright paper, about an inch closer to the centre than his best shot. John looked around in alarm, looking down the line of archers to see that Teyla and Lorne had joined the line up.

"Sorry, wrong target! Our apologies, Sir." Lorne shouted along the line to him. Beside him Teyla was notching another purple fletched arrow to her bow.

"Don't worry about it, Major." He stressed the rank as he turned back to preparing another arrow.

As he squinted down his red fletched arrow, he found it more difficult to focus. So, he took steadying breaths and cleared his mind, squashing down the growing sense of competitiveness. The arrow flew twisting through the air and finally entered the central ring of the target, pushing aside Teyla's earlier shot.

Satisfaction renewed he was about to turn and gloat when another arrow pierced through the dead centre of his target. A clear bull's eye. He snapped his head round to see Teyla smiling as she picked up another arrow.

John frowned at her. She was making a point. She was obviously still annoyed with him for choosing Ronon for his team over her. He had tried to apologise several times, but she only smiled and said it did not matter. But, it did. He could tell. And it appeared she was making a point now about her skill. Not that he needed reminding of that, as he had received enough bruises from training with her over the years to be very familiar with her skill set.

"I think it would be best if you stuck to aiming for your own target, Teyla." He said down the line, trying to keep the growing frustration out of his voice.

"I am sorry, John. There is just so much more space on your target than ours." John looked over to see the massive cluster of purple fletched arrows set around the dead centre of her target. How had she done that so quickly?

He watched then as Lorne drew back his bow and held it steady. Teyla began talking to him, coaching him it appeared. The Major set the arrow loose and John watched it thud into the utter ring of the target. He tried not to smile.

Lorne drew back another arrow and this time Teyla stepped closer. She ran her hand down his extended arm, altering the way he held the bow. They were too far away for John to hear what she was saying, but he could see she was practically speaking into the man's ear. Lorne sent the arrow towards the target and it hit on the outer edge of the central ring. John realised then one thing about Teyla that he had not considered before; her ability to teach others and share her skills. Ronon was not as good at that. In fact the man was getting rather frustrated at the less physically able of their Olympic team, despite John's insistence that they were needed for the more intellectual activities.

John watched as Teyla coached Lorne through another two shots and watched in growing concern that Lorne was now striking near the centre consistently already. Damn it.

John turned back to his target and set up another arrow, lifting the bow and squinting through the bright sunshine at his target. He found himself wishing then that she was whispering in his ear, sharing her skills and warm breath against him. He shook that thought aside and tried to focus on his own practice, and found himself making the adjustments to his arm as he had seen Teyla do for Lorne. The arrow sped towards the target, and entered the central ring, but still no way as close as Teyla's or Lorne's efforts. Maybe if he apologised again she would give him some pointers. Perhaps it was worth using some charming smiles on Teyla and beg for forgiveness, women usually loved that kind of thing…

TBC


	3. Football

**Disclaimers**: I own no part of the Stargate world, I make no money from this endeavour. I only love this world so much I wish to play in it gleefully.

John finally stopped trying to apologise to Teyla round about the time that her heels connected with his shins. He tumbled to the soft ground, twisting backwards into the impact. He lay in shock for a moment, the New Athosian sky beautifully blue above him and the football pitch's grass cool beneath his back. Then the pain arrived in his legs and the indignation with it.

"Foul! That was a foul!!" He began shouting as he sat up, his hands clutching at his bruised shins.

The whistle blew down the pitch and he looked over to see Teyla and Lorne's team jumping up and down in glee at their ill-gotten goal. His shins throbbed with an intense lingering pain, that was almost eye watering as he climbed to his feet.

Ronon was already in the Ref's face, demanding he recognise the foul as they made their way back to John.

"That was an obvious foul!" John spat at the Ref as he arrived.

"I slipped on the grass, I am sorry, John." Teyla said as she climbed back to her own feet, but it sounded completely insincere to John's ears.

"She slipped on the wet grass." The Ref said with an apologetic shrug. "I saw no intentional foul."

"What?! She just happened to slip and knock me down as I was about to score a goal!" John argued back.

"My ruling is final, Colonel." The Ref responded with a warning tone as he walked away.

John turned back towards Teyla, narrowing his eyes at her. She gave him a small apologetic shrug, which he wasn't fooled by for a minute. He was through apologising for his mistake, she wasn't playing fair anymore.

"So, that's how it's going to be, is it?" He said. "Well two can play at that game." With that dramatic announcement he turned on his heel and limped away with as much dignity as he could muster. He wasn't entirely sure what he had meant by that statement, but he was going to stop apologising and make sure his team won over hers.

"If we had been playing _proper_ football this wouldn't have happened!" John muttered as he reached the side line.

"Don't start that again. We're getting round to your 'American' football next month." Lieutenant McKenzie replied as he approached John. The man's heavy Scottish accent was both enjoyable, but at times extremely difficult to understand.

McKenzie was reasonably new to Atlantis, but John had asked him onto his team as the man was built similar to Ronon and he was an ace marksman, which had helped up their team scores in the archery, darts and shooting competitions. However it was their long running banter along the subject of football and rugby that John had been enjoying the most.

"Stupid five aside Soccer." John muttered. He looked back towards the winning team, and saw the group welcoming Teyla into their huddle with enthusiasm.

So he made a tiny mistake and didn't pick her for his team. It appeared she was still holding a grudge, planning with her team to beat his at any costs and she appeared quite happy with her new team anyway. He tried not to feel bitter about that.

Well, he had something to retaliate for now as well; the gloves were off.

TBC


	4. badminton

It had been a long day, but John was thoroughly enjoying himself. That was mostly due to him and Ronon having wiped the court with all the other doubles teams, except one. Teyla and Lorne stood on the other side of the net, both looking tired, and a little annoyed.

John took his place, his racket ready and he dropped the shuttlecock into the serve. It sailed over the high net in a slow arch, which Teyla easily returned from her side, and the shuttle crossed back towards John's side. Ronon snapped it back with a fast crack of his wrist and Lorne lunged to return but missed. The small audience that remained from the day's games applauded again. John smiled as Lorne picked himself up off the floor for the third time in the last half hour. John and Ronon made a killer team and both had gone into today's event determined to shatter all their competition.

The only problem had been teaching Ronon how to play the game. He had a tendency to destroy the shuttlecock with one hit, and he had repeatedly gone for shots under the net during practice. He wasn't so good at following the rules, or 'stupid restrictions' as he called them. But, today as expected the man was on top form. Well, when wasn't Ronon on top form?

The play began again and he and Ronon stepped around each other fast and quick to send rapid return shots at the most ridiculous angles over the net. Teyla was catching most of them, but her shorter legs and having to step around Lorne who wasn't as quick as her, was holding her back. And she did not look amused.

John leapt up and spiked the shuttle down at a steep angle just ahead of Teyla. She leapt forward, racket extended but she was an inch too shy to reach and the shuttle hit the floor. John stepped back to his place watching the angry expression on her face, and for a moment he thought he saw her mouth a swear word. Excellent. It was a rare day that Teyla was led to such a thing.

John high fived Ronon as he passed, both feeling victory very close. They only needed two more points and they would have enough of a lead to win. Victory was most defiantly in sight.

The next sets of hits were all high, the shuttle rising and falling slowly up almost reaching the ceiling. John struck a return towards Lorne's face. The man leapt back on instinct and wasn't able to get his racket up in time. Another point. John smiled through the net at the major who was now red in the face and panting. It had been a long day for them all and Lorne was most definitely feeling it.

He and Ronon only needed one more point. John hiked up his loose joggers and bent forward ready for the next play with anticipation. He took a moment to look across the court to where Teyla stood; she felt his attention and gave him a raised eyebrow. He returned with the cockiest look he could muster.

The shuttle was hit, sailing over the net to be returned, just skimming the net. John jumped and struck back towards Lorne again; the weak link. However, at the last moment the major ducked and Teyla swung out at the shuttle above him. The shuttle skirted the top of the net directly towards John's face. He lunged out of the way only just saving himself from a shuttlecock to the eye.

The audience laughed and clapped at the obviously emotionally charged play. John stood back up, his fingers automatically feeling around his right eye for any damage. Nothing, he had moved quickly enough. He looked through the netting to Teyla to see a smirk of a smile.

Ronon slapped him on the back, pulling him away from the net.

"You alright?" The big man asked.

"No harm." John muttered, testing around his eye one more time.

"They're getting desperate. We only need one more point." Ronon added the pleasure obvious in his tone.

"Let's do this then." John responded.

The next volley was fast and furious. Ronon and John danced around each other to catch each shot, moving with a grace born from regularly training with one another and protecting each others back over the years. Lorne and Teyla worked hard to keep up the same pace, but they lacked the fluidity that he and Ronon possessed. Lorne almost tripped over Teyla as she intercepted a low shot from John. She dropped to one knee and extended her racket out and just caught the shuttle before it touched the floor. The audience applauded loudly.

Her return was high and slow, giving Ronon plenty of time to get under it. He jumped up and snapped the shuttle back over the net at such a speed that John heard the shuttle break on the impact, but it still flew back over, and straight for Lorne's face again. The shuttle sped towards him in a blur and all he had time to do was drop to the floor with a yelp. Teyla had been too far away to rescue the shot and the shuttle touched down just inside the line. The audience gasped at the shot and then leapt to their feet clapping loudly.

It had happened so quickly that it took John a moment to realise they had won. He threw his arms up over his head. "Yes!" He shouted, and Ronon joined him. Teyla was helping Lorne to his feet and both looking very annoyed and not a little exhausted. They walked slowly to the net to shake hands with him and Ronon.

Ronon pumped Lorne's hand and slapped him on the shoulder. "No offence man."

"None taken." Lorne replied, reeling slightly from the friendly slap to his obviously aching shoulder. "Good game. Guess you guys had to win something eventually."

John shook his hand. "Start of a new trend, Major. Get used to the disappointment now; it'll save you some heartache later."

He turned to Teyla as she extended her hand to him, but she was rolling her eyes already at his smug smile. "Well tried, Teyla." He said. "Better luck next time maybe." She dropped his hand quickly, and turned from him her lips pursed.

John couldn't help but laugh. That was for the kick to the shins. He watched as she and Lorne walked back to the rest of their team, who greeted them with friendly pats on the shoulder and even a hug or two for Teyla. He was surprised to see that, as she wasn't really a hugging type he had thought. A strange feeling moved in his gut as he headed over to his own team with Ronon.

He looked back at her again to see her put her arm around Lorne's shoulders and they laughed together at something she said to him, then they both looked up towards John. He felt a start as the rest of Teyla's team all turned to look at him as well. All six pairs of eyes all smiled at him rather too sweetly. Uh oh.

TBC


	5. Table Tennis

It turned out that Table tennis was not Ronon's game. He and John had managed to have some respectable wins throughout the day, but they were not as hot as before. Though Ronon could move quickly, he still took up a lot of space at the tennis table and he and John found it more difficult to move about each other quickly enough in the smaller space as compared to their glorious display in the badminton.

Ronon did not care for the 'tiny table game'. He hated that the ball had to bounce twice on its way to his opponent. He wanted to smash the ball back directly at the poor unfortunate person on the other end of the table. Training with him had been rather frustrating for John and the rest of his team. Even the less sporty of his team had picked it up easier. In fact one scientist, Dr Kingman, confessed that he had been a ping pong champion when he was a child, but had had to give up to pursue more intellectual studies. The man appeared delighted to once again be able to pick up the paddle. The Doctor had managed to get through to Ronon that skill and precision were the key and he began to listen. But, there were still the occasional deathly fast shots from the man, which if they were lucky enough to skim the table, possibly imitating a 'bounce', were unstoppable. He was rather unpredictable in that regard.

Another factor working against them was that there were only two tennis tables on Atlantis, so the day had lingered on and Ronon was getting impatient waiting between their matches. John also secretly believed that Ronon was still bitter from the fact that a number of teams had petitioned the judges to prevent him from competing in the running, saying that he had an unfair advantage. After all the man had been a Runner for many years. John had retaliated by saying that heightened powers had not been considered a factor before and that Teyla was still competing. She had not helped by then graciously volunteering to not compete in the running. A sneaky move on her part and John had begun to suspect that it had been her team behind the whole matter.

Despite all that he and Ronon had done pretty well today, but their main competition that would stop them from getting into the finals was, annoyingly, Teyla and her doubles partner, Captain Medd. The captain was one of those women who were built to frighten men and small children into doing whatever she demanded. She had a strong solid physical build and a glare on her that made you want to look away at anything else. She did not speak much and John was rather glad of the fact. Lt McKenzie had quite a crush on the woman, which John couldn't quite understand. The thought of the children those two could create was terrifying, but John knew they would be people you would want on your side. But, all that aside Captain Medd was an excellent young officer and an even better table tennis player. And she and Teyla made an excellent team.

Finally he and Ronon were called up. They took their positions at one end of the table, as Medd and Teyla did at the other end. John looked down the small table at Teyla. She had only just finished one match, not having had much time to rest. He hoped that would work against her. She returned his look with an anticipatory look of her own.

"Maybe you should prepare yourself for disappointment now, John, to save yourself some heartache later." She said, echoing his own words back to him.

"I don't think I'll be needing to do that any time soon." He responded.

The umpire blew the whistle beginning the new match right beside John, partly deafening him for a moment and he almost missed the fast serve that sailed towards him. He tapped the ball back, and moved aside slightly to give Ronon room to move for the return. His turn again and John reached out to intercept the ball, but the huge amount of spin Captain Medd had added to the small sphere sent it flying away from him at an unpredicted angle. Annoyed at missing a shot so early on he frowned as he reached down to retrieve the ball. He bounced it back to Medd for the next serve. She grabbed it out of the air impatiently and served violently towards him. He stepped back, allowing the ball to come to him and he returned it to Teyla, she struck it sharply back to the corner nearest John, forcing Ronon to shove past John to reach it in time. He missed. He did not take it well.

"Steady, Ronon." John warned, as he took the ball from the umpire.

John stood at the corner of the table, the ball resting in his open palm ready to serve. He looked diagonally across the table to Teyla, whose eyes were fixed on the ball in his hand. He tossed it up and served it as close to her side's centre line as he could. Teyla shuffled sideways to meet it and snapped her paddle hard against the ball, sending it spinning wildly over the net towards John again. He moved back to give Ronon extra space this time. Ronon made it to the ball and returned with a sharp crack towards Medd. The ball bounced just inside their line, gaining John and Ronon their first point.

The ball came back to John to serve and he belted it down towards Teyla. She caught it easily on the edge of her paddle, and it flew towards Ronon's side of the table. Ronon struck out and intercepted it, sending it flying across to the far corner of the other side. Medd jumped back and reaching to catch it and sent it aggressively back to the opposite corner. John reached and returned, pleased to have caught that. Teyla sent the ball back to Ronon, almost directly into his paddle. Ronon returned calmly to Medd who shot it back with vicious speed directly at John. The ball snapped against the bare flesh of John's arm. It meant a point to him, but it still wasn't the nicest way to gain a point.

"Ouch!" John shouted, the impact sharp like a slap on his arm. He rubbed the sensitive area of his arm, and looked up to see the two women smirking at him.

Captain Medd began the next serve, which Ronon returned easily enough to Teyla who slapped the ball fiercely down the court. It bounced at an odd angle and flew up into John's face. He had to dart aside to avoid another possible eye injury. He missed the shot consequently. He glared down the court at Teyla who only smiled sweetly back at him.

"Pick up the pace, Sheppard." Ronon muttered from beside him, but John thought he heard some amusement in his voice.

John won the next volley, picking up his spirits slightly. But, when Teyla returned the next round the ball bounced just in front of him sailing up and hit his right hip. He leapt back, swearing. The umpire glared at him with a warning as she announced the score.

Two rounds later and he and Ronon were in trouble and John had been slightly injured twice more. The umpire finally said something to the women, who acted innocently enough, but after that they focused on sending him unpredictable and sharp angled shots. He and Ronon had to shove each other out of the way several times to make it to the other side of the table in time for their shot. Soon enough the women won the first game.

John had to admit grudgingly that Teyla was amazing at this. She moved with a distracting grace, her movements controlled and relaxed. She sent shot after shot down the court to them at varying speeds and directions, leaving them battling to keep up. Add to that that she and Medd kept changing who was on the offensive. One would be the aggressor for several serves and then they would suddenly swop roles mid volley. John wiped the growing sweat from his forehead with his wrist band. Ronon was muttered and complaining beside him which was not helping his mood. The four hits he had now taken to various parts of his body were still stinging.

The next round Ronon served, finally using his impatience for their benefit. The ball bounced on both sides as it should, but only barely. Medd missed by a long reach. Ronon's next serve was just as violent, but Medd managed to return it by luck more than skill. John sent it back to the same corner, making Teyla reach for the ball. The volley progressed, the shots getting faster and more aggressive, but he and Ronon had the upper hand now. Ronon powered the ball to Teyla who reached back and belted it from its odd angle straight at John. It didn't even come close to touching the net, instead flying straight for John's head. The ball smacked brutally into his forehead and he staggered back. That hurt. It wouldn't cause any serious injury, but it sure as hell hurt him right now. He held his hand to his forehead and glared at Teyla again. For a moment he saw concern cross her face, but she quickly schooled her expression back to aloofness.

John assured the umpire he was fine. He stepped up to the table, making a show of feeling the growing bruise.

"You okay, Colonel?" Captain Medd asked, but her tone was full of sarcasm. "Would you like me to kiss it better maybe?"

The small number of watchers as well as the two women laughed at that. John pulled a face at her. "No, it didn't hurt _that_ much." But, he could still feel the impact on his skin and knew he would have one bright coloured bruise there by this evening.

Things only went down hill from there. The two women had apparently been holding back and now let it all out. He and Ronon managed to gain a couple of points here and there, but it didn't really help. John's mood decreased as the sting in his forehead increased. Ronon's temper worsened and he gave away many points by making stupid mistakes borne from his impatience and temper, which John began to point out to him only making things worse.

John didn't look at Teyla much after that, instead focusing on her hands as she served or on her paddle as she hit the ball. He tried not to think that she had aimed that shot at his forehead on purpose, but knew his pride had been wounded.

The women won pretty quickly, pushing him and Ronon out of the semi-finals. John shook hands with the two women without really looking directly at them. He turned and headed away from the sounds of joy as Teyla and her team celebrated. These games were supposed to be fun, but John was not really enjoying himself any more. So he strode out of the room alongside a grumbling Ronon, his forehead aching and his spirits low.

Later that evening John was still too wound up to sleep so he took 'War and Peace' with him to the Mess Hall. The room was at reduced lighting, and completely empty. He made a coffee, and carried a piece of chocolate cake over to his favourite table. He sat and opened the book, trying to remember what had been happening in the story. He had brought a small ice pack with him as the bruise on his forehead was a lovely shade of blue and he hated bruises on his face. It didn't look good to meet new people off world with any kind of shiner. He considered that he may need to talk to Teyla. Was she really so mad at him that she had deliberately hit that ball at him with such force?

When they were on duty she was as friendly as normal and he had thought that she had seen the more amusing side of making him pay for not having chosen her. The team dynamic had been changed though. When they arrived back in the city after a mission Rodney went off to the other judges, and Teyla went off to her other team. The whole dynamics of the city had changed, which was most obvious in the Mess Hall, as it was over a meal that most people had time to meet with their fellow Olympic team members. So, she would rush off to huddle up with Lorne and the others. John had tried not to blame Lorne, annoyed that he and Teyla seemed to have teamed up against him. He ignored the possible suggestion Ronon had made that he may be jealous. John had brushed that aside and had refused to think about that any more. He had gathered that her team were on a campaign to pick on him personally and to beat his team, but was it really to the point where Teyla would take such a low blow? Why had she reacted today that way? Or was it all completely in his head? Had it been an unlucky shot that had hit him that way?

The Mess door slid open and John looked up to see Teyla had entered. He looked away and back down to his book, quickly dropping the ice pack and hiding it under one of the book's covers. He chose to play petty and ignored her, his forehead cold. He looked out the corner of his eyes to see that she was approaching him. He waited till the last minute and looked up at her with a questioning look.

She arrived at the opposite side of the table and leant her hands down onto the surface between them. He kept his head forward over his book, and looked up at her from under his eyebrows waiting.

"It is against the rules to speak of these competitions with someone from another team. I would not want to risk a penalty for _my _team by talking to you about it, so…" She said and leant in towards him.

Her lips lightly met his forehead on the bruise. The brief kiss felt especially warm against his cold skin after the icepack. She turned and walked away quickly before he could even react.

He watched her leave the Mess Hall, knowing his mouth was hanging open. The doors slid shut behind her and a smile spread over his lips. She either hadn't meant to hit him a tall, or not with such force. She regretted hurting him. The bitter miserable mood he had been lingering in magically lifted, leaving him contented and more than a little excited about the next round against her team. The playful mood he had had before returned. Oh, yes he was going to beat that team and not feel sorry about it anymore. She had forgiven him.

TBC


	6. Volleyball

--

The air was bright and clear as John breathed in the salty air with delight. He rubbed his towel over his forehead one last time and slid his sunglasses back into place. The sun was warm, but the constant sea breeze off the ocean kept the air cool. It was a beautiful day.

He squinted across the water towards the other pier, making out the line of volleyball courts set out along the pier's length. He couldn't quite make out who exactly the individual figures were running around the courts and jumping up to the net, but it was clear everyone over there was enjoying themselves just as much as those playing on this pier. John looked back towards his court where his team were readying themselves to resume play after the short time out.

John rubbed at his sweaty forehead once again. The sun was warm, but the constant light breeze had kept the air chilled, however John had still built up quite a sweat from playing. He considered taking his shirt off again. He was not one to normally show a lot of skin, unlike many of the others playing today. Case in point was Major Lorne, who had obviously been working on his tan previously in John's opinion. The Major was gathering with the rest of his team on the other side of the net. They huddled together in a tight circle arms around each others shoulders as they discussed tactics to defeat John's team. John's eyes moved to Teyla, or the small part of her that he could see; that being her arm and hand, which were presently wrapped around Lorne's naked shoulders as they stood beside each other in the huddle.

John turned his attention to Rodney who was umpiring this match. He was presently sitting up on the high set chair overlooking the high volleyball net. Not that they actually had a proper high umpire chair, so they had managed to cobble together two tables, with step ladders on top through which was balanced a plank of wood someone had found. This then was Rodney's seat now, though he sat upon it like a throne, the whistle between his lips and frowning at his watch. After a few seconds Rodney blew the whistle loud and abruptly. John ignored the dramatically extended arm with pointed finger the scientist directed at him and casually picked up the ball and made his way to the back line ready to serve.

John stood behind the line and regarded his team. Ronon stood shirtless in front of John before the net, his shoulders tensing as he prepared for the play. Also at the net were Dr Kingman and McKenzie. The poor Doctor wasn't the sportiest of individuals, but he was doing pretty well in John's estimation, despite nearly being crushed earlier between Ronon and McKenzie who had both gone for the same shot. Kingman hadn't gotten out of the way quickly enough and was quite literally squashed between the two massive men. He had recovered well enough, brushing it off with as much masculine dignity as he could, but John was sure he had spied a slight limp from the man since.

Beside John, covering the back of the court, were the team's two women; Dr Jones a tall biochemist and Capt Thomas. They had both learnt volleyball for the first time these past two weeks, but were doing pretty well. The whole team had been playing brilliantly all morning and Lorne's team were good, but obviously volleyball wasn't quite their game. But, hell they were up against John's team with Ronon and McKenzie! Despite losing a few valuable points earlier because of McKenzie being distracted, they were obviously going to win; it was just a matter of totting up a few more points quickly enough.

John tossed the ball up, jumped and hit it overhand up and over the net. On the far side of the court a marine intercepted, bumping the ball up for Teyla to set up for Lorne's fast spike, which skimmed down over the net right towards Kingman. Ronon was late reacting as he had been giving the weaker man more space since he had almost crushed him earlier. The point was lost. The opposing team rotated round and John watched as Captain Medd wandered up to her new position at the net, directly opposite McKenzie. McKenzie had already missed several shots this game that John had directly attributed to his being distracted by the woman. John mentally wrote the man off for the next volley.

Teyla stepped to her new position beside Medd and she smiled sweetly at the timid Kingman now opposite her, who appeared quite flustered by the attention. John rolled his eyes, then stared at Teyla with intent until she looked over at him and John shook his head at her with a disapproving look. She was lowering herself to try such tactics. She ignored him in return, but he saw the smile. As she leant forward ready for the play, he noticed she had pulled down the zipper on her thin cotton jacket some more, revealing the low cut crop top beneath. John could practically hear Kingman's gulp. John mentally wrote off Kingman as well. He was going to have to have a very stern talk with his people. They were getting far too distracted by the female opponents.

Lorne served a high under hand shot over the net, which Ronon passed up towards the net to be spiked over. McKenzie surprised John by leaping up and thumping the ball over the net in a wild display of power. McKenzie landed on his feet, a massive smug expression on his face. In response Medd gave him a large impressed smile through the net as he moved on to his new position. Well at least McKenzie was actually making some shots now, even if it wasn't for the right reasons.

But, the next round McKenzie fumbled the ball pathetically and lost them a much needed point. John turned his palms upwards and glared at the Scotsman, who in return actually blushed slightly, his eyes darting over to the net, before he turned away again. John followed where the man had looked to find Teyla smiling at McKenzie through the net. So Teyla was working to distract McKenzie as well. John tried to glare at her fiercely again, but she ignored him, keeping her sweet smile on McKenzie. McKenzie looked over his shoulder nervously towards John, his eyes then shifting over the Medd and finally back to Teyla.

Minutes later and John was ready to lose his temper with the two men, but finally they were rotated to the back of the court and John stepped up to the front line. As he arrived he raised a challenging eyebrow at Teyla. In return she smiled politely at him and pulled up the zipper of her jacket all the way up to her neck with a quick flourish. The move felt like an insult and he frowned at her, but she looked away. Why wasn't he going to be flirted with like the others? Not that he hadn't been planning to prove to her that her cheap tactics would not work on him, but she could at least try. He had rather been looking forward to it. She had pretty much ignored him during the game up until now, especially with six players on each team he was rarely near her by the net and he was missing the playful competitiveness from before. Maybe she needed reminding that he was a challenging opponent.

During the next volley Ronon passed up a shot to John from the back of the court. John leapt up and belted the ball at a sharp angle directly down on the other side of the net, the ball flew past Teyla, her hair breezed aside as it passed by. As the rest of her team intercepted it, she looked back at John, who was walking backwards readying for when the ball came back over the net. As he did he made sure he gave her a 'bring it on' gesture. She pursed her lips, raised an eyebrow and turned from him again.

The ball sailed back over the net behind John and Ronon intercepted it, bumping it up nice and high for Dr Jones to set it up at the net for John. John leapt up high, his shirt brushing the net slightly he was so close. As he did he was aware of Teyla and Medd approaching on the other side of the net readying to jump up and block his spike. John had been impressed by how high Teyla could jump, but she was still shorter than most of his team and it did make a difference when she was intercepting shots from Ronon, McKenzie and John. So John reached up for extra height, pulling his arm back ready to strike the ball. On the other side of the net from him he was aware of Teyla leaping up as well, but she misjudged and fell slightly forward through the net making light contact with him. For a moment he felt her hand brush over the exposed skin of his stomach where his shirt had ridden up. Thrown off by the touch, his hit wasn't as good as he had hoped. As he landed back down he turned to Teyla to see if she was alright, but she was already turning away and he saw her exchange a smug smile with Medd. Had she done it on purpose? His belly tingled where she had touched him.

Still rather shocked by her tactics he stepped backwards to his place as she went to hers, no longer directly opposite each other, but still close at the net. He waited till she looked back at him and he made a show of pulling his shirt down and tucking the sides into his joggers. He wouldn't fall for that move again. She attempted an innocent smile, but it completely failed.

She readied herself for the next serve. He kept his eyes on her, telling himself he was trying to intimidate her as much as possible. She met the distant eye contact and she smiled at him. Then she leant forward into a guard position and he noticed her jacket was once again unzipped. That really was a very low cut top.

The ball flew past his face and he leapt back shocked.

"Sheppard! Get in the game!" Ronon hollered across the court.

John felt himself blushing at that, especially when he looked back at Teyla to see her questioning, yet knowing look. Well, two could play at that game.

During the next play he waited for the right moment, for when she was about to hit the ball over the net and he jumped up to block from his side, keeping as close to the net as possible. He grazed against her body through the net as she had done to him, but now as he jumped up to block he reached forward and slid his hand around her exposed middle under her jacket skimming over the skin to her lower back. She arched her back in mid air and fell slightly against the net. To the outside world it must have looked like he had intentionally pulled and twisted her off her shot, which he had. Rodney blew the whistle loudly at the blatant foul and Teyla's team all glared and protested at him.

"No touching!" Rodney shouted over the net. John was sure he had meant to say a more technical term, but the double-entendre was rather apt in John's mind.

John held his hands up and looked back at Teyla. "I'm sorry. It was a low move on my part, I apologise." He graciously apologised loudly enough for everyone to hear, but her eyes were sparkling and he knew his were as well. Turn around was fair play.

John turned back to take up his position, as he did he reached down and pulled his shirt up and off. He tossed it to the sideline and turned back to the net waiting for the serve. The cool sea breeze danced across his care chest, cooling him considerably and he wished he had chosen this earlier. But, standing next to the heavily built Ronon and McKenzie he couldn't help but feel smaller than usual in his body build. However, he knew his body was lean and toned, so now he turned his attention back towards Teyla and saw with a great amount of satisfaction that her eyes were on him. He hitched up his loose joggers on his hips as he leant forward ready for the serve. Though she was too far away to see exactly where she was looking, he could tell her gaze was on him. He smiled sweetly at her.

She took her position and leant forward matching his guard position. This time as she bent forward he made sure to keep his eyes above her neck line. But, her hand came into view and he watched as she frowned down at her top and she began to brush something off the top of her crop top. Her fingers briefly trailed down the fabric, then through her exposed cleavage and she looked up at him with a hooded look. The ball sailed past John again; he hadn't even realised that the ball had been served. He turned to the fiercely questioning looks of his team and could only shrug apologetically.

Fortunately Teyla's team was rotating round which pulled her away from the front line and effectively away from him. As she stepped back towards the far end of the court to serve she actually lifted a hand and waved goodbye to him, to which he gave her his best sad pouting look and waved his fingers in return. Then Major Lorne stepped up, blocking Teyla from view. John looked through the net at the determined look in the Major's eyes and all the competiveness returned in full force.

--

TBC


	7. Scrabble

**Disclaimers**: I own no part of the Stargate world, or the Scrabble world either - I make no money from this endeavour. I only love this world so much I wish to play in it gleefully.

--

"Can I have everybody's attention, please?" Rodney shouted out.

The conversation died down around the room, all heads turned towards Rodney and his clipboard. John looked across the empty Scrabble board towards his opponent. He rolled his eyes and gave Teyla a 'check out this guy' look. She only responded with an aloof look, playing the role of opponent so well, but there was a smile dancing on her lips, at which he smiled and returned his attention back to his power hungry friend.

"Before we begin today there are a few administrative matters that need to be addressed. Firstly, regardless as to how many of you continue to hound me on the matter the following games will _never_ be included in these competitions; Twister, Operation or Strip Poker." Everyone laughed. "This is the last time I will discuss this and if I get one more e-mail, memo or post-it on my door regarding these I will start deducting points from your teams. And don't think I can't work out who is sending them!" Teyla looked suspiciously at John, but he looked away innocently, playing aloof now himself.

"Now onto today's competition - you all should have read the instructions I sent out via e-mail yesterday. But, to review for those too busy to check your email; there are three sections – Scrabble, Chess and Gin Rummy. You will play one game of each and then move onto the next section. Judges with be keeping a close eye on everyone. Any conversation that may be required is to be kept to a low level so as not to disturb other players. If you require a judge put up your hand. If you need to go to the bathroom, put up your hand." There was some muttering at that. "Okay Kids, you may begin."

John turned back to the table before him. The bag of tiles was waiting on the board and a large dictionary lay beside the board. John felt slightly sorry for Teyla with this game. He knew from experience she did not enjoy the game and since she had only been able to read and write English for four years, it was extra challenging for her. Though it was nice to be doing something other than sports for a while. He had built up quite a collection of bruises and pulled muscles over the past months. The Infirmary had been busier than ever, but at least no one had been seriously injured. It was nice this weekend to sit back and play a game or two. Games he was good at as well, which helped. He only hoped it didn't get too boring doing this all day.

Teyla nudged the bag towards John, but he inclined his head indicating she should pick a tile first. She pulled out one of the small pale squares and showed its face; a K. John reached in and pulled out his tile; a C. He got to go first. John picked up the bag once they had returned the small squares and juggled the bag about, mixing up the tiles further. They selected seven tiles each, lining them up along the small racks in front of them. John began sorting the tiles; he already had two blanks and tried not to smile at his luck. He looked up over the table to see Teyla frowning with concentration. A judge indicated they could start before wandering off to see to another table. So John sat forward and quickly placed 'TAKEN' at the centre of the board, using one of his blanks and scribbled his score down on the scoring sheet beside the board. He reached for the bag and pulled out a new set of five tiles and placed them on his rack.

Teyla studied his word as he spun the board round for her to see and then she returned her attention to her rack of letters. John looked away, looking for his team mates around the large hall whilst Teyla came up with her move. Ronon was playing Chess which worried John. Ronon had not taken to any of the board, or 'bored' as he called them, games. He was not one for patience and Chess was not his game. He would be better on the Gin Rummy as he and John had been playing most nights in preparation. John looked back to see Teyla already using the dictionary. So, John continued perusing the room and spied both Dr Kingman and Dr Jones playing Gin Rummy.

Teyla was moving so John looked round to see her move, to find she had placed down 'NEARLY' with a blank in place of the 'A'. He looked up surprised at her and she smiled serenely as she turned the board for him. He frowned at the word; that was pretty good. She wrote down her score, also impressive. She collected new tiles from the bag as John turned his attention back to his rack of letters. There wasn't much to choose from. After a small amount of consideration he place down 'LATE' using the 'L' in her word. Not many points, but still he was pleased as he spun the board for her. He looked around the room again as he took three new tiles out of the bag. Where were McKenzie and Capt Thomas? He finally spied the red haired Captain, her head down over a chess match against Major Lorne. John wasn't sure how that would work out.

Teyla shifted in her seat slightly as she poured over her letters and her leg brushed against John's under the table. John sat up a little straighter, pulling his longer legs closer to him under the table. Most of the larger tables had been used for the Gin Rummy and Chess, leaving the small collapsible tables for the Scrabble boards. John was used to stretching his legs out somewhat more and had taken up her space without realising it.

She was frowning down at the board and reluctantly could do little but add an 'R' onto his 'LATE' to make 'LATER'. She noted down the score as he turned the board back around. He regarded his letters. He had little choice so he chose to replace his blank with the 'K' it had been representing in 'TAKEN'. He turned the board back for her. She considered her rack, her face focused and thoughtful. He watched her closely for a moment, before he caught himself staring and looked away.

He shifted in his seat some more looking around the room once again. Rodney was pacing round the Chess section, his clipboard still attached to his forearm. He was scowling down at the boards, obviously less than impressed by the display. John's eyes moved on, looking for McKenzie. His eyes fell on Captain Medd, who returned his look. John gave her a questioning look and watched her eyes shift purposefully to her right. He followed to finally see McKenzie in the furthest corner leaning over his cards thoughtfully playing Gin. John nodded back at Medd and she actually smiled at him before she returned her attention back to her own game of Gin. That was odd. John's suspicions were peaked. He wondered how close McKenzie and Medd were really getting. Not that he would have cared usually, but right now she was the opposition. As he had less than subtly reminded McKenzie on several occasions lately.

Teyla's knee bumped against his causing him to look round at her. He checked but he hadn't shifted his legs forward that much into her space again. He frowned at her, but she was still looking in the dictionary. Her knee brushed close to his again, the touch bizarrely electric in its suddenness.

"You got enough room, Teyla?" He asked.

She looked up from the book with an enquiring look. He indicated under the table, she nodded and returned her attention back to the lines of the dictionary. Then she leant forward and spelt out 'HOLY' using the 'Y' of 'NEARLY'. John regarded the small word and smiled up at her.

"Good word." John commented.

"Thank you." She closed the book and reached for her new tiles.

"However, this is a better word." He said as he placed a blank tile and an 'X' down from the 'T' of 'TAKEN'. "Tax." He said with relish as he wrote down his new high score from using an 'x'. She frowned at that and opened up the dictionary again.

"It's a word." He defended.

She nodded, as she reached out and put down an 'ING' after 'TAX' giving herself an even higher score. "This is an even better word I believe."

John muttered under his breath at that. She smiled at him as she pulled out a further three tiles from the bag. John turned back to his rack, with renewed focus. She had been practicing. Probably with Major Lorne.

He reached out and added 'GROA' to the 'N' of 'TAXING' to make 'GROAN'. She briefly looked at his word, before returning her attention to her letters. She began to chew on her lower lip; something she only ever did when she was finding something difficult. John turned his attention away from her, and her lips, and back to his teammates around the room. His eyes met Ronon's frustrated ones, who was currently looking like he was about ready to kill the thin male scientist he was playing Chess against. John got the feeling that Ronon had been waiting quite a while for his turn to move. He wondered how long it would take before Ronon used intimidation on the poor guy.

Teyla's leg lightly touched against his right knee once again, but this time didn't move away. He looked back around at her surprised. She was still looking between the dictionary and the tiles. He guessed she hadn't realised, so he bumped her leg with his knee. She pushed back with her knee, but didn't lift her eyes from the book in front of her. He scowled at her, but she pretended she hadn't noticed; interesting new tactic of hers. What were they going to do, battle for leg room now?

He kept the pressure against her knee, and she did the same. For a time they simply tested strength against strength. The first indication that he was getting to her was when she shifted slightly in her seat, working to resist against him. The pressure was building between their knees and John's thigh began to burn with the tension. Till finally both knees skidded off each other and her knee slid up his inner thigh and his down her outer thigh. It had hurt slightly and neither of them had won.

John sat back again, their thighs sliding past each others' as he did; the sensation rather pleasurable. She shifted again and pressed her leg outwards pushing his leg outwards making herself space in the centre of the leg room battlefield, between his legs. John pressed back inwards. She resisted and he felt the locking of her thigh muscles against his, felt the strength of her leg. He kept up the resistance, fighting against her under the table, whilst keeping a polite appearance above. He was suddenly very glad someone had put table cloths over all the tables, as anyone would have be able to see the battle going on.

She chose then to lean forward and place down her tiles. He could see the tension in her shoulders and face as the thigh-strength contest continued. John remembered hearing that women actually had innately stronger thighs than men. And she no doubt had strong legs from the low postures she used in stick fighting. He wondered if he would still be able to beat her when he was using his slightly weaker inner thigh muscles. That was until he looked down at her word. She had used the 'O' of 'HOLY' to spell out 'FONDLE'. The word threw him off causing him to reduce the pressure of his leg and she was able to break the stalemate, smacking his knee outward. His leg struck the leg of the table drawing a few people's attention near by. John pretended to check the stability of the table as the judge frowned over at them. Teyla was busy trying not to look too pleased with herself as she wrote down her score.

John turned back from his assessment of the table to see the self satisfied expression on her face. He regarded the word she had spelt out again and tried not to read too much into it. He pulled his legs back towards the centre to find her legs still taking up the central area under the table, her legs now fully extended towards him. He decided that as usual it was payback time. He leant forward and placed a 'D' on the end of 'FONDLE'. As he did he squeezed his thighs inwards, trapping her legs between his, putting just enough pressure to make it uncomfortable for her and he smiled smugly at her.

She looked up at him challengingly, and he met the look with a raised eyebrow. Her legs pushed back outwards against his. He had serious advantage now, so she turned slightly in her seat, twisting her knees one way and digging them into one of his inner thighs. He mouthed 'ouch' at her, but kept squeezing her legs; resisting her. She twisted sharply again, a tiny movement, but her kneecaps bit into one thigh and once again his leg slammed out against a table leg. The contents of the table rattled loudly drawing attention again especially the judge's, who was now approaching. John glared at Teyla as the man arrived.

"Everything alright?"

"These tables are very small, isn't there anything bigger?" John asked.

"Sorry Sir no, but once this game is finished you can move on to a bigger table for Chess or Gin Rummy." The judge replied. John took the opportunity to shove out his legs fully extending them under the table. Teyla had to allow it, but he saw her jump against the table, banging her knee slightly.

"We'll make do for now then." John graciously accepted, so the judge left.

John looked back down at his tiles, and stretched his legs out even further, knowing that his long legs would be reaching right under her chair. He wriggled around in his seat making a show of getting comfortable in his new position. He reached out then and spelt 'GOOD' using the 'G' of 'GROAN'. She lifted a delicate eyebrow in return and he smiled victoriously at her.

Teyla looked away from him to her tiles and began frowning again and worrying on her lower lip. She spent a lot of time studying them and jotting ideas down on a notepad the judges had allowed her to use. John looked back around to see if Ronon had begun to lose it yet. The man was leaning threateningly forward, his arms outlining the chess board towards his opponent and he was rocking in his chair with impatience.

One of Teyla's thighs suddenly pressed against the outside of his right leg. He snapped his gaze to her. She shifted in her seat, causing her knee to slide against his leg, in what he could only describe as a sensual manor. He frowned at her. She just began putting tiles down on the board and then turned it for him. She had spelt out 'YES', using the 'E' of 'FONDLED'. Interest and pleasure took forefront. He regarded her closely, and she gave him a questioning look, as if nothing untoward was occurring under the tabletop. He lowered his eyes to study his tiles and pressed his thigh outwards against hers lightly, feeling the warmth of her inner thigh hotly against him. He frowned down at the table; he needed to concentrate, as after all he didn't want to let her distraction actually work.

He reached out and made 'TRY' using the R of 'LATER'. He looked up at her challengingly. She appeared wholly focused on her letters, almost disinterested in him and his move. He pressed his knee outwards some more against her, but she still didn't look up. So he hooked his right leg outward and around her leg, trapping her lower leg in his. She shifted forward in her seat sliding her knee further up his thigh. This was an interesting strategy of hers. He kept his gaze on her, but she appeared entirely focused on her letters, rearranging them about on her rack, still apparently completely disinterested in him.

"I'm flattered that you need to resort to such distraction techniques to beat me." He said softly over the table, keeping his voice low.

She raised an eyebrow. "You consider yourself difficult to beat?" She asked in a distracted tone as she jotted some letters down on her pad.

"Difficult enough that you are resorting to using your feminine wiles to distract me." He replied.

"Wiles?" She asked looking up finally, her expression enquiring. She reached out for the dictionary. "You spell that with a W?"

He nodded, but knew she had a pretty good idea what the word meant. He waited for her to find the right page and watched as she slid her finger down the page of text till she found the entry. Her eyebrow lifted again as she read out part "form of insincere charm or flattery." She looked at him with a slightly questioning look. "You think I am being insincere?"

He tried not to react to that or to the dancing light in her dark eyes. He wasn't going to allow her to throw him off his game. So he let off the pressure on her leg and leant forward onto his crossed arms on the table. "I think you seem pretty focused on winning."

A large rather sultry smile appeared over her lips, she brought her thighs together around his legs. "I am simply reminding you what you turned down."

Reality shifted around him for a moment and he suddenly wasn't entirely sure what they were discussing anymore. The warmth of her inner thighs encircling his legs permeated in through his jeans to the heightened sensitive skin beneath. "I don't remember turning anything down." He said back quietly, his voice deep with suggestion.

He was immensely pleased with the pink flush across her cheekbones at his comment. She dropped her eyes to her letters and he watched as her tongue pressed out against her lower lip. She reached out and set out a word before looking back up at him

He looked down at the board to see 'ASK' made from the A of 'NEARLY'. His heart rate raised; was this really happening? Were they really having this conversation or was this simply a game, a stratedgy?

The judge walked past their table then, his silent comment on their discussion noted. John glanced down at his letters once again, trying not to think about the feel of her. He put down 'DANCE' from the D of 'FONDLE'. She responded with 'OBTAIN' from 'GROAN'. John was seriously impressed with that and even more so with the serious undertone that was pervading the whole game.

He began to ignore obvious words and looked for more 'interesting' words to put down. After exchanging in some letters for a round, she put down 'TIME' from the T of 'TRY'. He responded with 'NOW' running from the end of 'OBTAIN'. He began to forget that he was trying to win by points. She exchanged in letters and he felt her smiling at him as he took his time with each move trying to find something with a double-entendre from his tiles. One of her legs began to move subtly against his. He found himself wishing the table was actually smaller; she was too far away, her legs not high enough on his thighs for his taste. He caught himself in his rather lustful thoughts, and kept his eyes locked downwards at his rack of tiles.

With a burst of success he laid 'CHEAT' down from 'DANCE'. He looked up at her and then rubbed his leg back against hers emphasising his point. She reached out and placed down 'FIT'. He considered the word, praying that she did in fact understand the slang of that term.

Two rounds progressed with neither of them placing any words down, instead trading in tiles for new ones. She got a word first, and took delight in spelling out 'MATCH'. It took him a further round till he had the right letters for his next word. Her legs squeezed against him, but he kept his eyes on the tiles before him, trying to ignore her distraction technique. He pressed back, pushing her legs outwards some more in retaliation. Then he leant forward, slowly placed out the letters, his heart rate jumping as his legs pushed hers out wider beneath the table, until he sat back once more and lifted his gaze to hers as she leant in to read the word; 'CARESS'. Her eyes flicked up to his from over the board.

"I think that would most definitely fall into the category of fraternisation. I do not believe my team would approve." She said playfully.

"Your team? Or Major Lorne in particular?" He asked without thinking.

She frowned and looked round the room to where Lorne was struggling over his Chess match opposite a very pleased looking Captain Thomas.

"I can not imagine why Evan would be any more interested than the rest of my team." She replied.

"Evan?" He asked a little shocked. "On first name terms already? It took you three years to start to call me John." He commented, the memories of the exact circumstances of that request feeling perfectly apt considering the situation.

"He asked that I call him by his first name." She responded.

"Was this whilst you were practising Scrabble with him?" He pushed; the image in his mind of late night Scrabble sessions between them that resulted in her coming up with words like 'fondle' and 'obtain'.

"Yes, he has been helping me learn many new sports." She replied.

"Sports, huh?" He responded rather more sarcastically than he had intended.

Teyla began exchanging tiles from her rack into the bag. "Yes, he has been teaching me much of Earth."

An intense burst of jealousy tore through John then. He had, rather naively perhaps, considered himself her main source of all things Earth, but of course she had other friends. He had all but pushed her into that other team on top of that. Everyone liked Teyla and he had never before disliked the fact that she was friends with many others outside of their military team, until now. Now, he wanted to jealously guard her time for himself.

He looked down at the words they had spelt on the board even before the flirting had begun. Words like 'nearly', 'taken' and 'later'. It all had an eerie subtext now, all clearly highlighting something they had been dancing around for years. It was strange that it had taken a game of Scrabble to make him see all this so clearly. But what if this was all on his side? Was she really interested in him? The pressure of her legs was still against him, but he had to wonder if this was all simply part of this game they had been playing. Suddenly John didn't want to just play anymore; everything was all abruptly very serious for him.

He studied her and she raised a questioning eyebrow. She must have seen the change in his expression. He became aware that he was tapping his fingertips on the table as he considered what to do. He looked down at the rack of letters in front of him. He had an 'I' and an 'S'. In a completely illegal move he exchanged one of his own blanks for an 'S' already on the board. She watched him without comment, sensing his change in mood. With a deep breath he spelt out 'KISS' down from the K of 'TAKEN'.

He watched her face intently as she peered down at the new word, and then her eyes slid upwards to meet his. They looked at each other then eye to eye, only a foot apart. She pulled back, her legs leaving his, and she began to stand up. He looked up at her worried. Had he just completely ruined both their friendship and their working relationship with a single move in Scrabble? She stood up from her chair, but just enough to move allowing her to lean over the table towards him. Her hand preceded her, reaching out towards him and cupping his chin in her palm. Then she leant in and pressed her lips to his. The touch was brief, but warm and full of promise. They parted and she sat back down and John became aware of people talking around them, and even a few cheers. But, his eyes were only on Teyla as she settled back down in her seat, a satisfied expression her beautiful face and her legs pressed back against his under the table.

"Teyla! You promised no fraternising with the enemy!" Capt Medd said loudly from across the room. "That's blatant fraternising!" People sniggered around the room.

"I apologise, I slipped for just a moment." Teyla replied to her friend across the room. She looked back at John with a cunning expression on her face. "It won't happen again."

He frowned and pouted at her and she actually chuckled. "At least not whilst these Olympic games continue." She amended.

John lifted an interested eyebrow. "Really?" He asked. "You sure about that?" He baited her.

"Have you two _quite_ finished?" Rodney demanded from across the room. "Can the rest of us continue now please?"

"Yes, Rodney." John said back patiently.

The room quietened once again, but as John looked round he noticed several people exchanging money around the room. He noticed one of them was McKenzie, whom he glared at for a bit. The man merely shrugged and picked his cards up once again. Muttering under his breath on the subject of scheming friends John returned his attention to the table and Teyla.

"Right, where was I?" He asked himself out loud, pretending to study the board, whilst under the table he managed to gently trap one of Teyla's legs between his.

"Oh, yes, I remember now." He said, feeling the warmth of her between his legs. He looked up at her to see the light flush over her skin and the light shining in her eyes. "How much longer are these games again?"

--

TBC


	8. Capture the Flag

**Chapter 8 - Capture the Flag.**

**Rating**: Please note M rating before reading. Thanks.

--

The sun shone down brightly across the forest rooftop and a gentle breeze stirred the leaves. John took in the sight of the nearby forest in delight. This was the final round he had been waiting for. Oh yes.

The previous semi-finalists appeared from out of the tree-line; the losing team. The winners of the last round, Teyla's team, had returned earlier to prepare, whilst the 'dead' losers spread throughout the 'war zone' had had to make their own way back to the starting point. John watched as several marines strode grumpily out of the trees, still plucking leaves and dirt from their clothes and hair. Teyla's team had been quite a force to be reckoned with during this competition, but they were about to meet their match. Yes, John's team were going to win and then John was going to claim his very own prize.

His eyes drifted over towards Teyla. She had her back to him whilst she was in deep discussion with her team; planning his team's defeat no doubt. She turned her head and John quickly looked away. They had been enjoying, if that was the right word, the task of ignoring each other during team events and being overly polite in work hours. Teyla was amused by it all he could see, and he was too, though certain parts of his anatomy may disagree at times.

The past two weeks had been enjoyable, but rather frustrating in other ways. He had been trying, subtly, to break down her will. He had first tried simple flirting, but she either ignored it or returned it with such fervour that it unnerved his own self control and got him all hot and bothered. So he had changed tactics to being overtly gentlemanly towards her. He had even gone so far as to leave a few gifts outside her door this past week. She never mentioned them, but each time afterwards she would send him a little knowing smile. Both were under the watchful eyes of their teams, and though John had enjoyed the dance… it was almost over and he was very glad about it. This was the last competition and the final round in which poetically enough had resulted in the finalists being his team versus hers. As it turned out the Universe did have a sense of humour after all.

Rodney stepped out into the middle of the crowd.

"Right, now everybody has managed to drag themselves back." He glanced towards the grouchy marines. "We can start the Final round. I know I have gone over the rules several times with you all, but I will again as there has already been several disqualifications today. Right! Each team is designated a colour; blue or red. Colonel Sheppard's team will be the red team in this last round. Each team will make their way to their own base in the forest, as already shown to you all. Once the game begins you will have to infiltrate the opposing team's base and steal their flag bringing it back to your own base to win. Whilst at the same time defending your own team's base and flag from the same. A judge is stationed near each base to give starting orders and to note the removal and arrival of flags. Now, to be absolutely clear once again; players are knocked out of play by pressing the large button on the front of their harnesses. Everyone must wear the harness that has been allocated to them at all times."

Rodney reached over to the table and retrieved one of the harnesses, lifting it up for all to see. Most were dirty and plagued with leaves after being used all day out in the forest. The harness was lightweight, but was still a pain to wear whilst running around a forest.

"I will repeat; you need only press the button, knocking your opponent out physically is NOT allowed." All eyes turned to Ronon, who shrugged dismissively. "If your button has been hit, it will light up. You are then to stay put and 'play dead' until the end of the game. No one is to move around the war zone if they are 'dead'. Is that clear?" Everybody nodded obediently, knowing that Rodney would not stop until they did.

"Secondly; no one is to remove the tracking devices in the harnesses. We are tracking all of you from here and only us judges can follow you. You will take no other technology into the war zone except this harness with you." Rodney dumped the harness back down amongst its companions on the table.

"Lastly; if you are carrying your opponent' team's flag you must carry it so that it is visible. You are not allowed to hide it under your clothing." All eyes turned back towards Ronon.

"You never mentioned these additional rules before we started today." Ronon defended himself once again.

Rodney gave him an exasperated look. "Which is why your team is still in the game and I find myself repeating these rules every round since." He looked back to the two teams and the audience. "Is that clear to everyone?" Everyone nodded again. "Right, teams please collect your harnesses and head out to your bases with your teams. The judge at your base will announce when play begins."

Everybody moved into action, but John held back waiting. There was no need to rush in to collect the harness with his number on yet. He strolled slowly towards the table, his eyes seeking out Teyla. She was also waiting more patiently than her team mates. She looked round and their eyes met briefly. As usual lately a sharp thrill went through him when he was under her scrutiny. It was taking much longer than he had imagined coming to terms with the fact that she liked him. But, perhaps that was due to the fact that he had only shared one very brief kiss with her over a Scrabble board.

John looked away pretending to be disinterested in her, but smiled as he did. Happy enough time passed he looked back towards her; and saw a small smile on her lips as she moved towards the harness table. John followed and waited for the right moment; when she stood almost shoulder to shoulder with a team mate at the table. John stepped up and reached through the tiny gap between them to fetch his harness. As he did he brushed his arm against hers and pressed against her back, pressing her slightly against the table. She tensed briefly as he did, and he saw the acknowledging tilt of her chin, but she made no attempt to move he noted. He made a show of checking he had the right numbered harness, despite it being the last one on the table, made sure to breathe over the bared skin on her neck and then pulled away, sliding his body against her as he did.

He stepped away and pulled on his harness, but came up short to find Ronon and McKenzie glaring at him. "What?"

The two men rolled their eyes in unison. "Just try to focus on actually winning the game with us, please?" McKenzie said.

John secured the harness with a click, the knock-out button resting over his belly. "I'm focused." He protested. "I'm just trying to distract the opposition. For the team." He insisted.

"Right." McKenzie muttered doubtfully.

John reached the tall Scotsman and clapped him on the arm as he passed. "Come on let's go beat them quickly and we can head back home for a beer." And he could finally corner Teyla for a proper kiss.

--

The forest was not as quiet as it had been earlier in the day, or perhaps John was simply more focused now. A breeze danced between the trees, stirring branches, leaves and shifting loose dirt across the exposed patches of ground. The late afternoon sunlight was dimming, making it harder to pick out details amidst the deepening shadows.

John stayed still; his senses alert for any sound or movement. The swaying branches distracted him slightly, but he was still pretty sure he didn't see anything out there. Risking a move he signalled briefly to McKenzie who was hidden several metres to his far right, and John parted a large shrub and snuck forward a few steps to reach the cover of another tree. Nothing else moved, so he checked to his right, where he could see McKenzie pressed up behind a tree.

The team had split into two groups; one working defence of their base and their flag. The other group which John led were sneaking in a horizontal line through part of the forest towards the opposition's base. They had decided that Ronon should remain in a defensive position, as he would be the best to support the two scientists back at the base.

The gossip from previous runs during the day was that Teyla's team had a habit of picking on the most dangerous member of the opposite team early on in the game. With Ronon back at base he wouldn't be knocked out and would act as back up if the offensive group John led were taken out. Ronon hadn't liked the plan, but in the end had agreed. These competitions had done more for Ronon's team building skills than anything before in John's mind. Three months ago the big guy would never have stayed back at base, but now he understood he needed to help out his team mates and provide the best back up.

However, John was beginning to wonder whether it would have been better to have sent Ronon out to scout with them. The forest was eerily quiet around them, only the leaves stirring in the breeze. There had been absolutely no sign of their opposition so far. It was obvious Teyla's team was up to something.

John moved forward again, making his way up to a massive tree at which he could get a good view of the large exposed area up ahead of his path. The waist high ferns stopped just beyond John's tree, in the wake of a small area of a low lying moss plant that had taken root in the shady area beneath the massive trees. If he was going to push forward he was going to have to cross that patch of relatively open ground; a perfect place for the opposing team to lay an ambush.

John turned back towards McKenzie's position and watched as the man slid quietly and slowly forward through the greenery. There was more cover for him than John had. Beyond McKenzie in the distance John could still see Capt Thomas creeping forward between fallen logs and the tall ferns.

Turning his attention back to his open patch of ground, John stilled; watching the area around him with soft eyes, looking for anything out of place. But, nothing moved, nothing stirred. McKenzie caught John's attention then, signalled subtly that he was in position and John had the go ahead to move ahead. So John turned back to the exposed area beyond his hiding place. He went still again, waiting for everything to settle around him. This planet had few birds, but they appeared to be active right now, some singing lightly in the distance and occasionally flapping from tree to tree over head. John waited and listened. He heard nothing, felt nothing out of the ordinary. He would risk it. So he came up to a low crouch and scurried across the open ground.

He made it to the far side, thick with underbrush in good time. He dropped down amidst a thick batch of ferns and waited. Nothing. About to relax somewhat he noticed McKenzie's hand appear from behind his tree; the warning sign. John ducked even lower within the ferns. He watched McKenzie, whilst trying to look everywhere else at the same time.

Then that elusive sense he could not name began to clamour; the hairs on the back of his neck tingling. John looked away from McKenzie. Someone was out there now; either looking at him, or looking for him. He dropped down onto his front into the underbrush and waited. Then came a rush of sound and a shout in the distance. Looking back towards McKenzie he saw the man hunker down into the shrubbery. John couldn't risk moving out to go to his or Thomas' aid right now; that would be what his pursuer would be waiting for. He was trapped on the other side of the exposed ground; if he made a run for it across there he would expose his position to whoever was watching him. So he waited, and the feeling of being watched died down slightly, but was still there. Then McKenzie reappeared not too far away.

Thomas was out he reported, but she had taken out two of Teyla's team with her. With some mental calculations John guessed the opposite team would have one person at least guarding their flag, two taken out already, one watching him, that left two unaccounted for. They were probably pushing towards John's team's base somewhere else in the forest. He was sure Ronon would greet them kindly enough.

It was up to John and McKenzie to push forward and try for the flag, or they could go back. No, they would push forward. So rising up carefully he shuffled and part crawled through the ferns. McKenzie moved along on a parallel course to him only a few metres beside him, until they reached a taller patch of plants and were able to sit up whilst still reasonably well hidden. Going still again, John waited. Someone was definitely watching them, in fact the feeling had grown. But now there was a sharp thrill behind the feeling. John scanned the area ahead of them. The alien grasses were waist height beyond the shrubs, spread out among the trees up the embankment the other side of which was the opposition's base. John could now just about make out the top of the blue flag beyond the embankment.

John studied the patchwork of shadows and light around them. They were out there, in fact John would bet money on the fact that she was out there. The thrill travelled up his spine again at that thought. The feeling and thought coalesced into clarity; she was hunting him. But she hadn't made a move, perhaps she didn't actually know where they were. They needed to take full advantage of that before she did.

After a few minutes of crawling and crouching through the underbrush they made their way around the grassy rise and finally the base came into view. At the top of the embankment stood one of the marines of Teyla's team, but the man's attention was directed down the embankment in the opposite direction from him and McKenzie. If they could snatch the flag from behind him it would be great. But, Teyla was out there somewhere.

Risking it John and McKenzie made a dash for it. John headed towards the marine, a short stick he had found in hand, whilst Mckenzie legged it through the base area at an amazing speed to snag the flag.

John didn't catch the marine completely unguarded, but he still had the element of surprise and jabbed forward with his stick under the man's guard and struck the button.

A disgustingly graphic swear word passed through the young marine's lips as he looked down at his lit up button. John took a moment to shrug and ran off after McKenzie's retreating back.

Together they ran into the protective ferns, working to get as much distance between them and the base as they could. They needed to get back to their own base now. Another marine appeared from nowhere and made to grab at them. John intercepted the tackle for McKenzie, shouting for the man to continue. John defended off the marine's attempts to jab his button, their arms locked together, but John was still holding the ever-useful stick. He twisted his hand and extended the stick the couple of inches to the marine's button. The knock-out button lit up brightly against the man's belly. John let go of him quickly and headed off after McKenzie.

Slapping branches away from his face he burst out from under the thick foliage to see McKenzie making good speed through the trees up ahead. The tingle of awareness buzzed John's senses and he turned his attention to the left and saw a blur of colour and movement and Teyla emerged from the greenery. She was running on a parallel course to them, her eyes locked onto McKenzie. She was about almost level with the Scotsman and would soon move to intercept him and the flag.

"Break right!" John shouted at McKenzie, hoping to get him away from Teyla.

McKenzie reacted without question darting to the right, but still in the direction of their base. Teyla's turned and her eyes met John's for a moment; her eyes gleamed, flashing as she ran through the dappled light.

"Sheppard?" McKenzie shouted his question out over his shoulder with concern.

"Teyla's on your ass. Run! I'll take care of her." John shouted in response.

Teyla shifted her path following McKenzie. She would easily catch the man up, if John didn't stop her. He poured power into his legs and pushed himself, directing himself straight for her as she fell into pace behind McKenzie and in front of John. John was momentarily distracted by the sight of her running almost flat out, her clothes wrapping around her body as she flew along.

McKenzie looked over his shoulder at Teyla with a panicked expression. And then he tripped over a log in his path. It was a stupid move, but it possibly saved the day. Teyla was moving too fast to stop in time, managing to alter her course sideways to stop from tripping over him. John took his opportunity and as he arrived at the pile up a micro-second later he wrapped his arm around her and push pulled her away from McKenzie. The man leapt up and fled, flag tightly clasped in his hand.

John tumbled down onto the soft earth, Teyla's body catching most of his fall. He felt only a tiny moment of guilt for that, but the years of memories of falling on his ass under her fighting tuition kicked out the guilt pretty quick. This was war after all and she was pretty tough. He caught the rest of his fall on his elbow as best he could.

Teyla twisted and rolled away from him quickly enough, but he reached out and grasped part of her jacket attempting to slow her down. She let out a cry; a mixture of frustration and amusement. She turned back and twisted his grip, expertly freeing herself and she climbed up to her feet again. John clambered up to his feet as well, to see her running off again in the direction McKenzie was last seen. But, John had given the man plenty of time to get a major head start on her; John just needed to stop her from making up that distance.

He rushed after her, the forest opening up now as they ran through the high ferns and between the widely spaced tree trunks. But, even through that open area John could no longer see McKenzie up ahead, so neither could she. She changed her direction, and leapt up onto a massive fallen tree. John clambered up the tree after her and up onto the highest point and she was gone. He paused, still suddenly. His fast breathing was loud in the abrupt stillness, as he took in the carpet of high ferns surrounding the tree, all perfectly still. Where had she gone?

John had the sudden realisation that he was no longer the hunter and was once again the hunted. She must have realised she couldn't catch up to McKenzie and so she was turning to taking him out. The cooling afternoon air felt fresh and enlivening as he drew it into his lungs. A new primitive surge of excitement moved through him. He leapt down from the tree, down into the ferns and slunk backwards into its shadow. She was out there somewhere after him and he was after her. All the sounds around him became amplified as his awareness stretched out into the forest, waiting for her to give away even a tiny sign of where she was.

He moved carefully and as quietly as possible back along the side of the fallen tree, searching the forest around him. He was certain she was close by. He realised that the mixture of excitement and nervousness at being hunted, was transmuting into arousal. His body buzzed and throbbed as he slid through the plants looking for her.

Something snapped quietly under a light foot to his left and he froze, eyes flickering around in the sound's direction, scanning the swaying vegetation. Then movement between two branches and he ran towards it, certain it was her. She appeared out from behind the tree and dashed away and he pursued. She leapt up over a large fallen branch, reaching up and swinging elegantly over in a beautiful display of power and feminine grace. John followed, feeling his own sense of freedom and power kicking in. She spun around another tree and disappeared from view. But, when John emerged from around the tree himself, she was gone again. He pulled up quick, but she had gained the upper hand; and she tripped him up from behind. He reached out and grabbed a hold of her as he fell, pulling her down onto the ground with him.

They tumbled over through the ferns, struggling against each other, until they came to a rest John flat on his back. Teyla twisted over him, reaching down to hit his button, which somehow hadn't been activated during the fall. John caught her hand, then the other. She laughed lightly as she tried to wriggle from his grip. He kept a tight grip on her wrists, enough to restrain, but not enough to hurt her.

She sat up, now straddling him, her wrists in his hands and John's brain almost overloaded as she sat backwards over his groin. She worked to break his grip on her wrists, but he pulled her downwards, interfering with her leverage. Then things shifted into a new kind of struggle; he was now intent on pulling her down over him and she was resisting, but smiling as she did it. She locked her arms out straight, so he couldn't pull her downwards any further, but he changed his grip slightly, instead pulled her arms outwards to the sides, thereby pulling her down to him.

The fight went out of her in a second and she melted down over his chest. All thoughts of the game and the play fight disappeared as her body lay over his, her breasts soft against his chest, her hair falling around her face and her lips parted. She hovered over him, her breath over his lips and then they met. He wasn't entirely sure who started it, but it was happening. The adrenaline and ancient hunting instinct they had both been tapping into made the kiss instantly raw and demanding.

Her mouth moved over his hotly and he licked over her lips begging for a deeper intimacy. She responded, opening her mouth and pressed more heavily over him. A sound that may have been a growl purred from his throat at her final surrender to his kiss. Tongues danced against one another, lips pulling, teeth scrapping and their breathing fast.

She tugged on her arms, and he realised he was still holding her wrists, which he released and immediately buried his hands into her hair, pulling her even closer, then sliding down her back and up under her top, her skin soft and slick with sweat. She hummed pleasurable sounds that he had never dare hope she would make because of him, and it thrilled him on further. She ground backwards against his groin, now very much aware of his full arousal. He had to break the kiss at that, turning his mouth from hers and letting out a loud groan. She chuckled above him as she pressed her lips to his jaw. In response he redirected his hands down her back and under the loose waist band of her trousers to cup her rear.

There was a sudden click as he felt her knock-out button activate as it was pressed against him. Thank God, was all he thought at that. He got a good grip on her and rolled them over, flattening down the ferns around them. That done he sat up, now between her bent legs and she looked down her own body at her now lit button and then up at him. John was too busy pulling open the clasp of her harness and pulling it from her. She helped, arching her back off the earth to help. The sight of her twisting under him almost made him loose it right then. He chucked her harness aside without thought and turned to his, taking a moment to press his own button, knocking him officially out of the game. His harness discarded as well, he bent back down over her, pulling open her belt buckle. She was obviously on the same page as she was already pulling off her shirt.

The sight of her bared breasts distracted him from his task momentarily, as he leant down to taste them. She mumbled sounds of amusement as she worked on shedding him of his shirt and opening his trousers, pushing him back with gentle insistence. He sat back up from her once again and returned his attention to pulling her trousers from her, which took longer than he wanted as he had neglected to remove her boots first. As he worked on freeing her delicate feet from the heavy military boots, she worked on his clothes. He paused from his task to pull an arm out of his sleeves for her, but finally she was naked enough for him and he laid back down over her, batting an annoying fern leaf away from her head as he did.

He pressed down over her and she wrapped herself around him, her arms around his back holding him to her and her legs up around his hips. Her lips caught his and the sensual dance of before continued with no loss of desperation or need. In fact it was building. He pulled one of her legs away from his hip long enough for him to fit a hand between them. She let out a wild raw sound as he touched her for the first time, her body responding to him in every way. That as all that was needed and he was pushing into her. She gasped loudly again with him as he slid deeply into her finally. Clawing at each at each other, locked together they rocked fiercely with each other, the passion and demands spirally completely out of control.

Later he would wonder how close other people may have been in the forest, as neither of them held back vocally in the least. Years of desire and months of flirting and teasing had pressed them to breaking point. John growled out his pleasure as she tightened around him, her head thrown back against the leaves and soil. He kissed her throat, her collarbones, and her shoulders; anywhere he could to convey his worship of her. He lifted her hips higher and ground into her, a cry of unrestraint echoing throughout the trees as he poured himself into her.

As his strength fled his body, she pulled him down to her, wrapping herself tightly around him once again. Her hands drifted up into his hair, stroking his neck and head. Her chest rose and fell with her still rapid breathing and he pressed his heavy head over her heart and listened as their bodies both cooled and calmed against one another.

After who knew how long it began to dawn on John that he was mostly naked on top of a very naked Teyla in the middle of a forest full of other Stargate personnel. He pulled away from her up onto his hands above her and looked down at her happily.

"I didn't plan on that happening so soon." He said, his voice deep and thick.

She smiled up at him. "I think we have been building up to this for a while, John."

"I think you're right. You okay?" He asked, aware that she had been pressed down onto forest floor for some time.

"I am fine. Very good in fact." Her smile of satisfaction was almost enough to pull him back down over her, but he restrained himself to a quick kiss.

"Thank God these Games are over." He said. She lifted her eyebrows and he realised the double meaning of his words. "Maybe we should make ourselves presentable, who knows where the others are."

She shuffled to sit up and he sat back, enjoying the view as she did. She brushed leaves from her back and he reached out and pulled some from out of her now loose hair. "That is a good idea, though no doubt my team has already won the game." She said.

He looked up from fastening his trousers. "Oh really?" He asked.

She began to pull her shirt back on, hiding herself from him once again, but her eyes were dancing with mirth. Then a thought occurred to him. "I just realised you lost."

"Lost what?" She asked as she took the boot he offered her.

"You said you wouldn't kiss me again until after the games were over."

"We were already out of the game." She replied quickly, as she pulled on her trousers as best she could whilst still remaining seated under the cover of the tall ferns.

"No you kissed me before any buttons were pushed, so to speak." He couldn't help adding.

"You kissed me first." She protested as she finally pulled her last clothes into place.

"Regardless there was kissing and the game wasn't over. I won."

She turned from him, her cheeks pink and her lips still red from his kisses. "Where are the harnesses?"

He let it go, but gloated inside. He scouted around the flattened area of ferns, but came up empty. "I think I may have thrown them that way." He hazarded a guess. He knelt up enough to peer over the ferns checking to see if anyone was about.

She laughed lightly behind him. "I think we are safe now, John." She began to climb to her feet, but John was unwilling to let her out of their little hiding place just yet. He caught her around her waist and pulled her to him. She came very willingly and pressed herself against him, her body rubbing against the full length of him. He kissed her again, his kiss possessive and demanding.

"Alright, you won that round." She teased him once they parted. "But, we will see about the final scores later."

"How about we call it a draw?" He asked as he pulled her back in for another long kiss.

--

TBC


	9. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

--

One year later and everyone crowded back into the Mess Hall. Once again Major Lorne, now Lt Colonel Lorne, stood up and waved for silence. A hushed excited silence filled the large room.

John surveyed the crowd, taking in the large number of new faces from last year, and noted a few missing ones. It was bizarre to think that an entire year had passed since the last Games. He was looking forward to them again, but this time he wouldn't make any mistakes. This year Teyla would be in his team and this year they would surely win. He turned his attention to her seated beside him, her face lit up with enjoyment. He was looking forward to teaming up with her. He guessed they would make as good a team in sports as they did on missions, in debate or in bed. She sensed his look and they shared a smile.

"Right," Lorne drew their attention back to him. "As most of you have heard; we are announcing the official Second Atlantean Olympic Games." Cheers filled the hall. "As everyone enjoyed themselves so much last year we thought we would make it an annual event as long as people were interested." More cheers and shouts confirmed that in fact everyone was indeed very interested. "Good. Right I will once again turn you over to our head adjudicator; Doctor McKay." There was a massive surge of cheers as the scientist stepped forward.

Rodney rolled his eyes and waved down the applause. "Nice try but it's not going to work. I have ignored all the 'gifts' and suggestions that have been magically appearing outside my quarters this past week." A collection of people booed at that.

"So where exactly did those boxes of chocolates come from that are in your quarters?" John asked loudly.

Everyone booed and laughed. Rodney shook his head, waving his hands dismissively in front of him. "I felt it was my duty to do away with the evidence of foul play before the Games officially began and I would be obligated to report such attempts at bribery." Rodney glared at John as more laughter filled the room

Once the noise level dropped down enough Rodney started again. "Right. Everyone needs to read the rules before signing up and even those who competed last year, as there have been some amendments. As last year teams will consist of six people and there is a maximum of three people from the same military team within one Olympic team. And again only one super-powered member per team."

John looked over at Ronon, who smiled in return before John looked back at Teyla. No this year he would choose his super-powered girlfriend for his team. Ronon hadn't appeared too upset, in fact he appeared more interested in being in the same team as Doctor Keller. Teyla exchanged a knowing smile with John.

"Also this year we are making an additional rule that there are to be no couples in a team." Rodney reported to various boos across the room.

John's head snapped round to his friend. "What?" He demanded.

Rodney smiled smugly in return. "Bet you're regretting the chocolate joke now."

"Why not?" John demanded.

Lorne stepped forward beside Rodney, obviously trying not to smile too much. "It's an unfair advantage."

"It so is not!" John protested back.

"You can ask us to reconsider the matter if you wish." Rodney offered.

"I am." John pushed.

"Over-turned." Rodney dismissed him with a wave. "Right everyone else; teams need to be confirmed by end of day tomorrow."

John turned to Teyla. She gave him a sad smile. "I guess my team is just going to have to beat yours for another year." She shook her head sadly.

John narrowed his eyes at her. "You beat us by one point! And you were only second place anyway."

"Still we beat your team." She said back, her eyes gleaming. "And we will again this year I am sure."

"Oh, we'll see about that."

--

THE END


End file.
